Mere Comments: A Bit of Ancient Wisdom
Touchstone Magazine - Mere Comments: A Bit of Ancient Wisdom A Bit of Ancient Wisdom "Mothers must accept the fact that between babyhood and manhood their sons do not boast of them. The boy, with boys, is a Choctaw; and either the influence or the protection of women is shameful. 'Your mother won't let you' is an insult. But 'My father won't let me' is a dignified explanation and cannot be hooted. A boy is ruined among his fellows if he talks much of his mother or sisters; and he must recognize it as his duty to offer at least the appearance of persecution to all things ranked as female, such as cats and every species of fowl. But he must champion his father and his dog, and, ever ready to pit either against any challenger, must picture both as ravening for battle and absolutely unconquerable." --Booth Tarkington, Penrod: His Complete Story. Garden City, New York, 1931, p. 167.
